Bank of India (BOI) on Friday extended its operations to the Union Territory of Ladakh by opening its first-ever branch in Leh with its top official asserting that the bank is fully committed to extending its banking services to the people living in far-flung areas of the country.

This was the 5,086th branch opened by a bank in the country and abroad, and is fully computerised and digitised with a facility of e-Gallery to provide 24×7 banking to the residents of Leh, a spokesperson of the BOI said.

He said BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer A. K. Das opened the branch in the presence of Field General Manager A. .K Jain, Zonal Manager Vasudev, Branch Manager Sangeeta and various local dignitaries and customers.

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“The bank is fully committed to extending its banking services to the people living in the far-flung areas of the country. The opening of a branch here is an important step towards this goal,” Mr. Das said.

He said it would not only boost economic activities in the region but will also help the local people to use various banking products such as housing-, vehicle-, education- and agriculture loans and also reap the benefits of other government schemes.

Mr. Das added that the bank has a unique salary account scheme for defence and paramilitary personnel providing free insurance cover.

“The bank also provides home-, vehicle- and consumer loans at low rates. Recently, the bank has reduced the interest rate for housing loans to 6.50% and that for vehicle loans to 6.85%,” he said.

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Mr. Das added that the bank will continue to endeavour to provide the best-quality banking facilities to its customers and connect more and more people to mainstream banking with fully digitised facilities.

Meanwhile, in continuation to the bank’s mission to reach maximum customers across India, it also conducted a ‘customer outreach programme’ at Leh branch, wherein Das distributed loan sanction letters to various beneficiaries, the spokesperson said.

Under the bank’s corporate social responsibility, he said Mr. Das is presenting ‘paper cutting machine’ to a non-governmental organisation of Ladakh, People’s Action Group for Inclusion and Right, who is assisting differently-abled persons by empowering them with various skills to earn their livelihood and live a respectable life.